At least 34 people have died attempting to reach the Spanish exclave of Ceuta from Morocco, according to Spanish authorities. Officials are pushing for a national emergency to be declared as around 60,000 migrants crossed into the territory via land and sea over the past 24 hours. Over 37,500 have since gone back. It is yet unclear what triggered the influx, although Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has blamed criminal networks.
CEUTA, Spain — Spain said Friday that it reversed a huge rush of migrants into a Spanish enclave in North Africa, with most of the more than 50,000 people who crossed the border by land and sea already heading back voluntarily.
The Spanish government's representative in the enclave of Ceuta said 57 bodies had been recovered on the Spanish side of the border and that there could be additional casualties on the Moroccan side. It said some drowned and some were crushed while trying to climb the breakwater that holds the border fence.
Moroccan forces beat back crowds with batons and tear gas at the gates to Ceuta, trying to prevent more from storming across into the tiny Spanish territory that juts on a spit of sandy land into the Mediterranean from Morocco.
Migrants walk toward the border with Morocco on Friday to leave Spain amid mass crossings of migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain.
The rush on the border caused division in Europe, where leaders of fellow EU states called for Spain to ensure that the incident was contained. Right-wing parties around the continent blamed the incident on Spain's comparatively lax migration policies, including an amnesty granted to hundreds of thousands of unauthorized migrants this year.
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France said it was increasing checks on its border with Spain, and Italy threatened to suspend Spain from the EU's internal open-border scheme.
U.S. President Donald Trump, a longtime critic of Spain's Socialist government, weighed in on the Ceuta situation.
"That's going to be us in three years if the wrong side gets in," Fox News cited him as saying, referring to the next presidential election.
Migrants walk toward the border with Morocco on Friday to leave Spain amid mass crossings of migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain.
Spain's Interior Ministry said about 50,000 people crossed the border since Thursday morning, and estimated that about 37,500 already turned back. Juan Jesus Vivas, head of Ceuta's local government, said as many as 60,000 people pushed across over the past couple of days.
Reuters at the enclave's border saw Moroccan police in riot gear using tear gas to disperse some of the people amassed near the fences. Water cannon trucks were deployed and the charred remains of a bus and seven cars could be seen from clashes with the crowds.
On the other side, Spanish military vehicles lined up along sections of the border as dozens of migrants watched from a hilltop in Morocco, unable to cross.
Several hundred people could be seen returning to Morocco through border posts and holes in the fence, with some saying they could not find food or shelter in Ceuta.
"Honestly, I don't even know why I came, and now I'm going back," a young Moroccan man, who said he was from Tangier, told Reuters. "I haven't eaten since lunch yesterday, even though I brought some money with me … What we're doing is neither good nor enjoyable."
Unprecedented crossings
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez traveled to Ceuta on Friday, where he was greeted with insults from protesters. He called the mass crossing "a violation of Spain's territorial sovereignty" and said authorities were speeding up the repatriation of those who entered illegally, with full cooperation from Morocco.
Ceuta and Melilla, Spanish autonomous cities in northern Morocco, have the European Union's only land borders with Africa. Both periodically experience surges in attempted crossings by migrants seeking to reach Europe, but the scale of Thursday's rush appeared unprecedented.
Spain's Guardia Civil police association AUGC said on social media there were too few police in place to monitor the fence during the surge on Thursday, making them unable to stop the rush.
Territorial Policy Minister Angel Victor Torres said that among factors contributing to the surge may have been a ruling by Spain's Supreme Court earlier this month that migrants intercepted at sea while attempting to reach Ceuta or Melilla cannot be summarily returned under special rules.
On the Moroccan side of the border, thousands of migrants streamed into the town of Fnideq overnight despite a reinforced deployment of security that foiled most attempts to cross.
A member of the Spanish military keeps watch by a fence, as people walk through water attempting to enter Spain amid mass crossings of migrants on foot and by sea from Morocco into Spanish territory, in Ceuta, Spain.
Divisions deepen
Migration is one of the most divisive issues in Europe, where far-right parties have been on the rise and much of the political mainstream has backed tougher policies.
Spain's Socialist government, an outlier to the continental trend of tightening rules, says it remains firm over illegal crossings but that immigrants benefit Spain and help strengthen its fast-growing economy. It offered a mass amnesty that saw hundreds of thousands of people seek legal residency over the past months.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said he already issued instructions "to immediately step up checks at the Spanish border." The ministry did not give further details about how this would change procedures.
EU countries are normally barred from conducting checks at internal frontiers of the bloc's Schengen zone, though checks can be reimposed temporarily under exceptional circumstances.
Italy's right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said her country was prepared "to intervene with extraordinary measures to defend the borders and the safety of citizens, including the suspension of the Schengen Area with Spain."
Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani claimed Spain's amnesty policy "encouraged human trafficking." Spain summoned the Italian ambassador to protest Tajani's remarks.
Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate from France's far-right National Rally, said that if she wins an election next year she will restrict free movement under Schengen to European nationals.
